(haipo) - Attorney Inbal Ben-Ari was unanimously elected to the position of the new legal advisor of the Haifa Municipality (Head of the Legal Department of the Haifa Municipality) and will take up the position in the near future. Ben-Ari's appointment marks a return to the municipal system in which she worked for years, leading key legal areas. Now, she returns with additional experience and renewed motivation to face the city's challenges.
Appointment based on deep familiarity with the municipal system
Attorney Inbal Ben-Ari is no stranger to the Haifa Municipality. She served there for almost two decades in key positions in the legal system, including the field of municipal corporations, asset allocations, supports and donations. Her familiarity with the municipal structure and legal practice in the city is a significant advantage that is expected to serve her well in her new role. This is a strategic appointment based not only on professional skills but also on the understanding of the area and the personal connections she has accumulated over the years.
Continuity versus renewal: Replacing Yamit Klein after nine years
Attorney Ben-Ari will replace Attorney Yamit Klein, who served in the position for nine years. Klein's period was characterized by stability, but now - with a change in leadership at the municipality - there is a need for a strategic refresh in the legal advisory system as well. Ben-Ari's appointment may signal a new-old direction at the municipality, one that combines past experience with more recent concepts, while maintaining functional continuity.
Returning from Safed to Haifa – Strengthening Local Human Capital
Since 2020, Adv. Ben-Ari has served as the legal advisor to the Municipality of Safed. During this period, she gained additional experience in the legal leadership of a smaller local authority, with unique challenges. Now, she returns to her legal hometown – Haifa – equipped with a broader perspective, but with a deep commitment to the city and its residents. The very fact of returning to the city also symbolizes a welcome trend of preserving quality local human capital.
Specialization in Municipalities – Critical to the Municipality's Ongoing Functioning
The field of municipal law is complex and dynamic, and touches on almost every area of city life – from planning and construction, through subsidies and corporations, to crisis management such as the ammonia case in which she dealt in the past. Ben-Ari comes with extensive and proven experience precisely in these areas. The fact that Mayor Yona Yahav chose to emphasize her experience and in-depth familiarity with the needs of the municipality indicates the strategic importance of the position at the interface between law, management and public policy.
Full trust from the city leadership – commitment to professional transportation
Mayor Yona Yahav personally congratulated Attorney Ben-Ari and noted her impressive abilities and expected contribution. Ben-Ari herself responded with excitement, expressing her motivation to re-enter the municipal system. A combination of full trust from the leadership along with a sense of personal mission may form the basis for effective leadership of the city's legal advice department. In light of future challenges such as infrastructure innovations, regulatory changes, and environmental issues, her role is expected to be particularly critical.
When Kalish took office, there was a terrible mess in corporations, in the allocation of municipal properties (including to non-profit organizations without any reporting of activity and while they were renting the properties to subtenants).
If she was responsible for the failures and returns to the municipal system, then you understand where the expression "those who fail get kicked up" comes from.
Well done. The right choice. From my experience as the chairman of the kibbutz, when we benefited greatly from the legal services of Attorney Inbal Ben Ari, and also as a member of the kibbutz, I can attest that the legal field of the Haifa Municipality is in good, courageous and professional hands. I wish Attorney Inbal Ben Ari success in his position. The Haifa Municipality and Yona Yahav, who heads it, have won.
I hope that what Shimit Klein failed to fix will now be fixed, and that our city will become a normal city operating on a legal basis and not a city that is falling apart and disintegrating legally, as has actually been the case in recent years. Good luck.